Classic New Zealand Mountain Bike Rides
by Paul, Simon and Jonathan Kennett
New Zealand is an increasingly popular cycling destination for the British cyclist, though we are greatly outnumbered by the German, Swiss and Americans . If you are tempted to take the long flight, then this is the cycling book you should buy. Forget Bruce Ringer. Anyone with a cheap map can find their way around New Zealand's state highways. You can take them or leave them, and I'd rather leave them. In much of the country, quiet tarmac backroads do not exist. On the main highways, you will be overtaken by cars and lorries travelling over 100 km/h, on blind corners and rises, and even if they can see someone coming the other way. The road accident rate is far higher than here.
As an RSF member, it seems likely that from time to time you will want to get off the tarmac and onto the extensive network of gravel roads and four wheel drive tracks. Not only will this get you away from the traffic, it will get you away from the Germans who are all so overloaded that they dare not ride their 2" knobblies off tarmac, and the Americans with their racing wheels. You won't meet many people at all, in fact. But the ones you do meet will have more time for you, and perhaps you'll meet some real Kiwi cyclists and other adventurers. And if no one is looking, you can take that helmet off.
You need something a bit more than a map to make best use of these alternative routes. That is where this book comes in. It describes over 300 routes ranging from 2km to 200km, circular routes and touring routes, easy routes and hard routes. Some good routes are on private farm roads, and the book gives you the telephone numbers you need to get any necessary permissions. You are told what terrain to expect (e.g. 70% gravel, 30% 4WD track) with altitude profiles for some routes. You are told whether you need a 1:50,000 to navigate, or if a 1:250,000 will do. Timings, water availability, it's all there.
Kiwi riders are a tough lot and do not easily admit to failure. The assessment of the difficulty of routes is honest, but definitely not overstated. On some of the harder routes, the timing estimates are based on fit people on lightly loaded bikes. If you read it carefully, it is unlikely that you will set off on something beyond you. When you read the instructions, "pull out your trusty tractor tyre tube and cross the river," the message is clear. "Expect something truly horrendous and you won't be surprised when it takes you an hour or more to cover that single kilometre," and conclude that it will take an awful lot longer with full touring kit. I went there and it took four and a half hours.
Best of all, this book is written with considerable style and humour. There are jokes, sketch maps, page corner animations, funny pictures, advice, translations of Kiwi biker-talk, etc, etc. It's a fun book, and will give you weeks of fun when you are there.
Publication Details
Published by The Kennett Bro's, 118a Moxham Avenue, Wellington, New Zealand. ISBN 0-473-02147-1, 266pp, paperback 7"x4.5", NZ$ 28 (1995). 2nd edition published 1993, reprinted with errata 1995.
Note on NZ Maps
The only reliable source of DOSLI 1:50,000 maps are DOSLI shops at Auckland and Wellington, though sometimes outdoor shops have a few. They are recommended for detailed navigation on 4WD tracks, e.g. in central Otago.
DOSLI 1:250,000 maps show more detail than commercial products at a similar scale, including gravel roads and 4WD tracks. However they do not always have sufficient resolution for extended navigation on 4WD tracks. Buy them when you see them as they are not widely available. Relief is indicated by shading. A few sheets of a revised edition with contour lines are now available, but there is no date to extend it to the full series.
Some petrol stations give away motoring organisation maps. These are a useful supplement as they give road names for unclassified country roads, valuable information for navigation.
Note on Southern Hemisphere Compasses
For direction finding, you need a locally-purchased compass, as they are magnetised differently for the southern hemisphere. Magnetic north is about 20 to 25 degrees east of NZ grid north (1996), depending upon location.
First published in the Rough-Stuff Journal Vol 41 (1996) page 125
This revised version 6 September 1997